Winners and losers of 2004

From shrewd takeovers to court cases, the past year has yielded a list of those on the up and those on the slide. By Ciaran Hancock

It’s been another 12 months of frenetic activity in the Irish business world. This was the year the Irish economy found its second wind. Economic growth in the first nine months of the year was 5.8%, confirming Ireland’s status as the best performer in the eurozone. Not surprisingly, the numbers in employment hit an all-time high, reaching almost 1.9m this year as unemployment fell to 4.4%.

But the big stories of the business year revolve around the people who make it happen. Now that the jury is in, who fared best and worst over the past 12 months?

HIGH-FLYERS

Derek Quinlan

The former tax inspector pulled off the deal of the year when he led a consortium of Irish investors in a €1.1 billion takeover of the Savoy hotel group in April. Quinlan then offloaded the Savoy and Simpson’s-in-the-Strand to a consortium led by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi